From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
With a grin, the alchemist shifted so that he was seated cross legged now. "Alright. Lets start with earth first." So saying, Remi touched the ground. Where he did a sprout pushed through the soil. It grew rapidly until a small bud had appeared, which soon opened to reveal a pale flower. "For me, my earth magic feels...I suppose the way I think soil smells. It feels like it is in my bones." Indeed, the earth magic felt much more a part of Remi than some of his other magics did, and so when he introspected, it did feel like it came from a different sort of fount internally.
Nodding towards Oliver, Remi smiled. "Now you try."
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi had an interesting perspective on magic. It was clear that he viewed it as a good thing, rather than a curse, solidifying even more inside of Oliver that maybe this wasn't too bad. There was a possibility that maybe things would be okay now that he knew he had magic. Plus, the excitement Remi had for simply sharing the magic was enough to make Oliver feel far more comfortable. It felt nice...
Warily, Oliver slowly placed his hand on the ground, a look of worry plastered on his face. His fingers dug ever so slightly into the soil as he looked down. He let out a sigh and tried to think about what Remi said. The smell of soil, to look for something inside of his bones that called to him...and yet nothing happened. He felt nothing and a beautiful plant did not appear from the soil. It remained unchanged.
Looking back up at Remi, Oliver shrugged. "Guess that's not it? I mean...I don't really feel anything in my bones. It's kinda just, not there?" Oliver didn't sound too bothered by it, not upset in the slightest. More like he was okay with what happened, that things would be fine if he couldn't grow any plants.
Remi nodded, not at all put off. "Ahh well. It would be too easy if we got it on the first try." He said with a chuckle. "You already have telekinesis, so we know it is not that." The alchemist said thoughtfully. "And you know it is not creating items, but perhaps it is changing them?"
So saying the alchemist created a piece of cloth from nothing. It appeared to be made from some sort of burlap. However as Remi focused on it, it changed into a beautiful satin. Handing it to Oliver, he offered the other man an encouraging smile. "Now you try."
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi did have a major point, they would've had to have been extremely lucky for it to work immediately on their first try. It was nice to know that Remi was motivated enough to keep going and patient enough to try each individual thing. It made Oliver feel pretty good in all honesty.
Now, Oliver had seen both animals and objects being created in front of his eyes, but nothing like what just happened. His eyes widened as the fabric morphed, changing entirely. "Holy shit." His voice was quiet and it was a bit obvious that he hadn't intended on saying the thought out loud. Whoops?
His hand grasped for the material and the look of shock on his face remained. Still looking at Remi, Oliver stumbled out a reply. "You can do that?" He had absolutely no idea such a thing was possible. Why hadn't he known about this before? Imagine all the leather jackets he could own! Damn did he want to have this ability.
Glancing down at it, he focused with all of his might. First imaging the satin as it was, trying to focus on how it felt in his hands. Then he tried to turn it into one made out of wool, as that was something he could easily recall. He thought deeply about how it felt, what the weight may be, and visualizing the new piece of cloth.
But nothing happened.
He continued to wait, trying to think about it harder, but nothing changed. It had been almost a minute of him trying as he clearly did want this to be a possibility.
Sighing, he looked back up at Remi and held the satin back out to him. Sheepishly, he shrugged. "Looks like that's not it either?"
From where she was, Aoife looked up and cackled at Oliver’s exclamation before going back dancing with the flower. “I can, yes.” Remi agreed with a chuckle. “Changing one thing into another is the basis for alchemy. I just...branched out from there. Never with magic for almost all of my life, though.” Perhaps Oliver didn’t know that part. Very likely he didn’t in fact. But magic was fairly new to Remi, despite possessing it in abundance now.
Watching patiently as Oliver tried, Remi merely shrugged with a boyish smile as they hit another dead end. “Right. Onto the next then.” If he couldn’t create earth, the alchemist very much doubted Oliver could imbue it with the sort of weak animation that Remi could. That only left one more bit of magic.
“This one is relatively new for me. It feels just like...imagining, I suppose.” So saying, the alchemist closed his eyes. Around them the earth melted away and appeared to be replaced with grains of near-white sand. Far away there was the cry of a seabird and the rush of waves. It wasn’t real of course, but Remi’s memories of it were so vivid that it very much seemed to be.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
There was a quick glance towards Aoife and a sheepish look. Hopefully Remi didn't mind the fact that that he was cursing in front of an infant. The man seemed to move on past it, explaining how the magic worked. Even with the explanation, Oliver was still impressed and deeply interested in seeing if there was more the magic could do. Could it change the material of a weapon? Did Remi have to be touching it for it to work?
However, now was not a time for those questions. Now was for when they needed to focus on him trying to find which type of mysterious magic he had.
The world morphed around him and his eyes widened. His left hand inched close to the ground but never touched it. Had he seen this before? It felt vaguely familiar, but he knew that sand probably didn't exist in the Hollowed Ground. What did it feel like? Was that water he heard?
Then he remembered: he needed to focus. Remi was showing him this as a demonstration, to see if maybe this was his type of magic. "Imagination? You said?" With a small nod Oliver closed his eyes. What could he even think about? He didn't really have any memories to look back on. Unlike Remi, there were no locations outside of the Hollowed Ground that he could think back to. No memories to reflect on.
And yet, something came to mind. He focused on it and soon there was the very faint sound of rain around him. It wasn't nearly as believable as Remi's sand and water, but it was the sound of rain nonetheless.
Oliver didn't know much about Remi and Ronin clearly if he thought cursing was the worst that Aoife had to endure in their presence. Perhaps once she started doing more than babbling they're try and curtail their language. For now though, Aoife just happily cackled as she sang to herself.
"Mmmhmmm." The alchemist hummed in soft confirmation, until the sound of rain halted him. Instantly he let go of his own illusion so that Oliver's could more easily be heard. With a smile that grew and grew before turning crooked, Remi laughed aloud. "Well there you have it. Illusion." He confirmed brightly.
Hearing the rain, Aoife immediately looked towards the sky frowning. It was a clear day. Still, she looked skeptical.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
There was a lot Oliver didn't know. He had hardly spent really any time with a Remi, nor had he met his husband. Oliver was down for that to change, eager to get to know aremi more and to finally meet the other third of the little family. Still, he'd have to watch his tongue around the infant. Oliver didn't want her first words to be along the lines of Holy Fuck!
The sound of ocean soon faded away and all Oliver could hear was the faint sound of rain. It wasn't complex in the slightest, but it was still there. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked at Remi, surprised to see the look on his face. The sound of rain faded and he was greeted with the familiar Italian accent. "Illusion? So like...I can make people hear and see things that aren't real?" Could he recreate sand and waves just like Remi had? Was there more that he could do? Like, could he create temporary people?
Glancing over at Aoife, Oliver frowned. "Sorry, Aoife. There's no rain."
It was a lot to handle and he was absolutely trying to distract himself at this time. It wasn't necessarily helpful...but Oliver had seen what it could do. How believable it could be. Would he someday be able to achieve that himself?
"Mmmhm." The alchemist agreed with a warm smile. His illusion magic wasn't particularly powerful either so he had no idea what the upper limits were. "It starts out small, just little things around you. Making it look like a candle is burning, the sound of rain." He shrugged, a blush colouring his cheeks. "It can be a rather nice way to fall asleep, actually."
At the sound of her name, Aoife looked over her shoulder. Giving Oliver a sharp look, her star-lit eyes narrowing at him suspiciously, she babbled something unintelligible at him.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
It was reassuring that even remi didn't quite know how it worked. Still, what he saw was incredible. Oliver only wished he had more solid memories to reflect on, things to create that wasnt a snowstorm. Maybe someday he'd be able to create something as beautiful as a...whatever that was. "I guess we will be learning all of this together? Maybe we could practice again sometime. You know. Tell each other something randomly to try and recreate and then the other has to do it. It's all illusions so it shouldn't be harmful."
Looking at Aoife, he wasn't sure what to think. The look she gave him was confusing and he already could barely understand children. "I don't think she liked the rain...maybe we should start planting more flowers?"
"Ah, that is a nice idea!" No one had ever offered to practice magic with the alchemist before. "Before coming to this world I was just a shapechanger—that is what we were called. And we only ever had one shift. It was only after I arrived in Caido that I was cursed by Ludo and began to develop magic." So saying the alchemist gave a rather boyish and casual shrug. "I could certainly do with practice." He agreed after a moment.
Glancing towards Aoife, Remi shook his head with a laugh. "Ah, she hears the rain and probably thinks we have to go inside." He explained, though nodded in agreement at the suggestion of planting. "If only either of us had water magic we would really be set. Alas." So saying, Remi nodded towards the canteen of water he'd brought.
"Why don't you try to move it here, with your magic?"
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
It was nice to finally hear quite a bit more about Remi's history, to understand why he may behave in certain ways. "I hope adjusting hasn't been too bad for you so far, since that does sound super different....but I know I'd be very interested in training with you." Oliver only wanted the best for Remi. "I think it'll do us some good to train together. I mean, we all do things differently. We can learn from each other" Oliver wanted someone to relate to, someone with similar magic to him.
"Well, lucky for her, we get to stay outside and enjoy this. No more being cooped up indoors." The blonde laughed and made a quick glance over at Aoife before turning to look back at Remi. At the small challenge, he smiled and tried to focus on the canteen. It took a bit, but soon the vessel of water came floating towards him. Oliver hasn't quite gotten used to his powers yet so he allowed it to fall into his hands. "I'm learning pretty well, if you ask me."
“Ahhh..actually it has been really rather terrible.” Though Remi’s expression was kind and cheerful, his words were beyond an understatement. Curses, heartbreak, murder, loss, death. Almost nothing good had come from what Ludo did, more than a year ago. Some good too, though only tangentially. “Mmm, of course. I will let you know though, I am certainly no soldier, nor warrior or fighter.” He added, ruffling a dirt-darkened hand through his curls. “My husband? Yes. Me? Absolutely not.”
Watching as Oliver moved the container over, Remi easily grasped it with his open magic and opened it. ” Indeed. You will be magically throwing bricks at Loren in no time.” He agreed with a roguish laugh.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
The blonde frowned and looked away. "I'm sorry, Remi...if there's anything I can do to help you...please let me know. I know you've helped me a lot." It only seemed fair that Oliver try to help Remi in return. To show him that he cared and could make things easier.
It was a nice shift in tone and Oliver appreciated it. To not dwell on the past and instead the present and future. "I'm not much of a fighter either...so I guess we're pretty even. I do need to meet your husband sometime, speaking of him." He seemed like a pretty good dude. If he was capable of once being ruler, clearly he's a kind but powerful being.
The joke earned a laugh from Oliver and he shook his head. "Perfect. It's the best way to protect myself. They'll expect me to have a sword, but bricks? Hell no. Element of surprise."
